Rebirth

East Gate of the Gods

Delos is located in the middle of an island complex whose colonists are basically Ionian, who at least since 700 B.C. organized common celebrations in Delos.
When it became famous as a religious center, it was claimed by many cities like Naxos and Paros, but it was the Athenians who took it under their protection circa in 540 B.C. removing all of the graves from the island.
In 426 B.C. it was forbidden to the Delians to die on the island.

images XIV-XV-XVI

In the 6th century B.C., with the final conquest of Eleusis, what was a religious theory started to be materialized with the removal of the graves from the island to the nearby island Rineia (image XIV); namely the creation of Life (Delos) in the east and Death (Necromanteion) in the west. Moreover during the Delian celebrations, the executions in Athens were postponed, as in the case of Socrates.
Births on the island were also forbidden; so the Delians lost their citizenship with the consent of the Spartans, who replied to the Delians, when they asked for their help, that Delos was not their homeland, since they could not die or be born there. Namely the island had to remain pure like Apollo (Sun).

If there was no reason for the alignment of the three sacred sites (Delos, Delphi and Necromanteion), they would logically have to be placed in different positions within Greece. Namely Delos does not correspond with a god of Rebirth like Apollo, who should have been born in a cave and in an area with rich vegetation, like the Minoan Zeus. Delos is a barren, water-less island, without any natural ports.

In fact the only cave in mount Kynthos (112,6 meters) is linked to a sanctuary of Heracles of the 3rd century B.C. (image XV). If it was not about a religious issue, the Delians would have been able to live on their island and practice religion like the residents of Eleusis. Finally there would be some kind of reaction from the other tribes, so there also must have existed a decision by the priesthood of Delphi, for the Athenians to undertake such an expensive project, but also of great strategical importance.
In 1100 B.C. when the Priesthood of Apollo took over the shrine of the chthonic gods in Delphi, the myth about the birth of the god naturally did not exist, which was to be desperately sought after by the clergy on the axis Necromateion – Delphi. However at a certain point in time the myth of the birth of Apollo was completed and Delos appeared as the birthplace of the god. On the other hand, the Odyssey and the Homeric hymn to Apollo, mention in circa 700 B.C. Delos as an Ionian center, where the Naxians had placed an Apollo of huge size. Therefore during this period there was great pressure by the clergy for the completion of the cult in accordance with the myth.
So in 540 B.C., the clergy of Delphi authorized Peisistartus to begin purging the island, removing the graves which were moved to the nearby island of Rineia. However what followed was the fall of tyranny and the Persian Wars, where the Persians respected Apollo and his island. In 478 B.C. Delos became a religious center under the supervision of Athens. So in 426 B.C. the second and more complete purging of the island from the graves took place and the religious Orphic template of worship was completed.
So then when we recall the chapters on Delphi and the Necromanteion and link them to the events of Delos, we will observe a uniform religious logic, according to the Orphic standard, where, despite the political disputes of the city-states, the religious program of Delphi continues to exist and to be structured with the Clergy serving as the connective tissue.

The barren island of Delos on its long side has an orientation from north to south. It is 5 km long and 1,3 km wide. Its highest point is Kynthos (112 m.) which was also the sacred mountain of the Delians in earlier times (image XV).
We already mentioned about Delos that Zeus, for the sake of the mother of Apollo, Leto, who found sanctuary there, fixed it forever on four pillars, and renamed it from Ortygia to Delos. The main sacred site of the god is found on the western side of the island, because it is from the west that its connection with Delphi and the Necromanteion can be achieved. Athens organized the “Delia” there every four years, during the month Mounichion (April-May), when the zodiac of Taurus appeared in the sky (image 5), which was associated with the constellation of Auriga, which was associated with the mythological Erichthonius or Erechtheus, the son of Polias Athena and Hephaestus. But also Taurus (Bull) symbolized Theseus who captured the bull of Marathon and sacrificed it in the temple of Apollo in Athens.

It was the time when Leto started having childbirth pains, which lasted for nine days and nine nights. All of the goddesses came to her aid, except for Hera and Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, who was prevented from doing so by the jealous Hera. Finally Iris convinced her by giving her some gift and thus Leto gave birth near the sacred lake (image XVI). Alongside Apollo she also brought Artemis into the world. In the end these two gods started having the advantage in the Greek Pantheon. They are a combination of Nature (Artemis) and its Rebirth (Apollo). That is why this festival was held during the time when even this barren land is changed by nature with wild flowers and low vegetation. For this reason Leto gives birth to her children near a circular lake, which is fueled by the gully Inopus, which springs from mount Kynthos, which became the mountain of Zeus, and after it flows fro 1.200 meters and fills the sacred lake, it spills to the bay of Scardana nearby.

She hugged the palm tree (Leto)
and supported the knees
on the tender meadow and the earth
bellow smiled
and as He (Apollo) came into the light, all
as one the goddesses cheered.

In all of the archaeological sites we visited the scenes exceed the human imagination. The Ancients had the ability to transform even barren wastelands like Delos, into an unsurpassed theatrical show.
The character of Delos, pretty much like that of Dion, is cosmopolitan, because alongside the sanctuaries of the Greeks, foreign religions started entering the island, by Egyptians, Phoenicians, Arabs, Jews, and even Samaritans. After all the Greeks as a commercial people could combine worship with trade without any problems. So, pretty much like in the case of Dion, as early as 166 B.C., districts of diverse racial origin started to form, without an urban design, contrary to Dion, due to the sudden commercial upgrade of the island, which in circa 90 B.C. had 30.000 inhabitants.

According then to everything we mentioned, Delos was the commercial, but also the religious gate of Greece. Further along the same axis (image XVIII), in Rhodes, there was the famous temple of the Sun, where Apollo started his route from on a quadriga. The gate of the gods was on this side, since the souls ascended after the death of the body, following the upwards path of the Sun, in correlation with the gate of mortals we mentioned in the Necromanteion, where the souls descend to be reincarnated, following the downward path of the Sun. So Delos was a “component” of an entire religious and commercial logic; it was through this gate that the export and import of new gods was carried out headed for the philosophical Athens, where the new ideas were being processed. The Church Fathers, like Basil of Caesarea (330-379 A.D.) will study in these schools to enrich their knowledge which will be used in the new worship of Christ.

Administrative and Religious Center of Greece

Delphi, the “Navel of the Earth“, the “Common Hearth of all the Greeks“, was the most sacred site of Ancient Greece. The Antiquities curator B. Pentzatos and the Supervisor M. Sarla describe the site of Delphi using these words.Apollo came to Delphi together with the Doric tribes and as a patriarchal god he pushed aside the matriarchal deities worshiped there.
From the archaeological digs we conclude that the Myceneans had settled in this very place and that the Oracle of Gaia flourished up until 1100B.C. It is from there that the “Descend of the Dorians” begins which shakes Greece, and finalizes the conquest of Delphi by Apollo.
The myth which concerns Apollo and is in accordance with the archaeological findings is in summary as follows: Apollo, who is the son of Zeus and Leto, a celestial god, kills Python, who, as a child of Gaia is a chthonic god. But, because of the blood relation of Apollo with Zeus and of Zeus with Gaia, Apollo does not celebrate his victory, but in order to be purified, he leaves the Oracle, going to Thessaly as a slave for 7 years and he returns to Delphi as a dominant god. But yet again, every year for three months he goes to the Hyperborean countries for purification, leaving Dionysus in his place.

image 05 – Constellation of Hydra, Corvus and Crater

The constellation of Crater (Dionysus) was linked to the constellation of the Corvus (Apollo), through the constellation of Hydra (image 05); all three constellations are visible from Greece. Part of Hydra is visible in the picture and it extends behind the Parthenon, towards the zodiac of Cancer. This way Hydra has a length, and starts from the zodiac of Cancer, crosses through the zodiac of Leo and reaches the zodiac of Virgo. Namely it remains in the sky during the months July – August – September, therefore during the whole summer.

The Corvus (crow), which was a bird dedicated to the worship of Apollo, was sent by the god to spy on the nymph Aegle, who, because of her beauty, was called Koronida (crow) and was unfaithful, because she was afraid that Apollo, with whom she had given birth to Asclepius, would abandon her. Therefore the clergy at some point created the relationship of the constellations of Hydra and Raven. Later on with the emergence of Dionysus they created the relation of the constellations of the Hydra, Corvus and Crater, and Aegle became one of the Nymphs of Dionysus.
All that we have described, proves the connection of the celestial dome with the archaeological site of Delphi through astrological and astronomical processes, which also indicate the intellectual level of the clergy.Dionysus was the link who connected the chthonic gods with Apollo, who was the interpreter of the orders sent by the celestial gods using Hermes as a messenger. This relationship of Apollo and Dionysus essentially represents “man” as thought (Apollo) and as passion (Dionysus), which converge or diverge depending on the social choice of men. Thus, the form of Dionysus will change respectively from good looking to repulsive.

Temple of Apollo

The relationship between Dionysus and Apollo is reflected on the pediments of the 4th century B.C. temple, which was completed in 330 B.C. and is the sixth consecutive one that replaced the previous archaic one which was destroyed by earthquakes (373 B.C.). Pausanias mentions that in the eastern pediment the arrival (“Epiphany”) of Apollo in Delphi was depicted, as it was also the case in the previous one which was destroyed. On the western pediment Dionysus was depicted together with the Maenads. Architects of the temple were Spintharus of Corinth and later on Xenodorus (restorations). The sculptures were created by Praxias and Androsthenes.

The temple possesses a technically illogical deviation to the North, which however can be explained by the eastern pediment of the temple, which shows the region of the Hyperborean people where Apollo comes from to the temple, namely the Cimmerian people (Ukraine). The deviation from the original positioning of the temple was assumed between 545 and 500 B.C. when the fifth consecutive temple of the Alcmaeonidae (above image III) was built with the archaic dimensions, identical to the previous one (6×15), with the code K. (6) (1) (5) (6) (3), namely according to the Pythagorean interpretation:

In the same site of Delphi there is also the temple of another apocalyptic god, Asclepius, a short distance down from the temple of Apollo (exact location here). This god restores man to a healthy condition and has the ability to raise the dead. Therefore, only the apocalyptic gods were gathered in Delphi (Apollo, Dionysus and Asclepius), who replaced the chthonic matriarchal deities; besides, Delphi is mentioned in the Iliad as the oracle of Peitho. These three gods will also constitute the logical basis for the christian worship, because Jesus covers their basic properties; namely he is born, dies and is reborn, like Apollo (Sun) and Dionysus, he has connections to the celestial space like Apollo and with the chthonic space like Dionysus, he even resurrects the dead like Asclepius.
These new gods upgraded logically since 1100 B.C. the Greek worship, extending human life with the concept of future rebirth through reincarnation. This also indicates the logic of the prevalence of the new worship, without religious wars. Thus the deceased, while in older times had his head turned to the north and his face to the west (Necromanteion), now the face turns to the east (Delos) waiting for rebirth like the Sun with the help of Apollo, Dionysus and Asclepius.

Route of the Soul

On the upper part of the above picture (Route of the Soul), we observe the relationship between Apollo and Dionysus, where the commands of the celestial gods are transmitted to Apollo, who in turn transmits them to Dionysus and he passes them to the chthonic gods. The soul, with the aid of Hermes is headed west to the Necromanteion in order to be judged.
This logic of man, namely the desire to extend his life or to be reborn, is valid even to this day. Modern day society tries with the technological means at its disposal to defeat old age and death. This logic however has its infrastructure deeply rooted in the Ancient civilization. So from reincarnation it transitioned to resurrection during the christian period. Otherwise it is very doubtful if modern day society would experiment for the extension (Rebirth) of human life. So then, issues that for us nowadays are self explanatory, have undergone a time spanning process.
With the upgrade of the cult, although Delphi replaces the chthonic gods with the apocalyptic ones, it does not abolish them; thus the oracle becomes a Geo-Solar center. Later on during the reign of emperor Augustus and his Apollonian religious policy, the oracle of Delphi will become a Solar center.
We observe then, that the religious reforms are localized in Delphi, the other religious centers are either funded or abolished. Therefore it is Delphi and the clergy that process the worship. Moreover it is from this oracle that everyone both within and outside of Greece seeks guidance for social and political issues. It is the source of information for the city-states concerning colonization, with an “Ambiguous Oracle” when the interests of the city-states were clashing.